Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal finally gave the team’s fans what they wanted this weekend — a sign he cares about the team just as much as they do.

Despite a tendency to erupt in press conferences, the fiery Dutchman has spent much of the last few months anxiously snuggled in his seat while his team has slipped from first to fifth in the Premier League table. Though far from the only issue the fans have with him, many, if not the majority, have wondered aloud why he hasn’t spent more standing on the touchline trying to urge his team to victory.

And that’s exactly what they got in Sunday’s unexpected 3-2 win over Arsenal. The under-fire coach celebrated his side’s three goals with maniacal glee, but even more notable was a moment in the 75th minute when he went sprawling just to prove a point.

Moments after the Gunners’ Alexis Sanchez hit the deck in an attempt to win a foul, van Gaal was out of his seat, barking at the fourth official demanding to know why the Chilean wasn’t booked for simulation. Then, in an attempt to win the argument, the manager mimicked Sanchez’s attempt at gamesmanship by pulling off a pratfall likely to live on in fans’ memories years longer than the day’s much-needed victory.

At once bizarre and hilarious — and instantly the stuff of meme legend — the fall showed that this game meant just as much to the manager as his inexperienced, injury-ravaged side. After a ragged start, United buckled down defensively and taken a 2-0 lead just after the half hour-mark thanks to some incisive finishing from 18-year-old Marcus Rashford, playing just his second game for the senior team. Even when Arsenal managed to halve the deficit, United never wavered, and it was Rashford who set up midfielder Ander Herrera for the eventual game-winner in the 65th minute.

Considering how poorly United has performed since the end of November, reaching new levels of futility on a week-to-week basis, an air of trepidation surrounded the team coming into the game. Yes, they’d beaten FC Midtjylland 5-1 in the Europa League on Thursday with a similarly inexperienced team, but they were coming up against an Arsenal team many felt was primed to finally end its now-more-than-decade-long title drought. Instead the Red Devils youngsters — three players, all teenagers, made their senior Premier League debuts — fought hard, took advantage of their opportunities and earned an emphatic win up there with last year’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool as the most important of van Gaal’s tenure.

“It was emotion. I don’t let myself go too much, every match I’m sitting on my bench,” the coach said of the incident after the game. “But today my emotion was a little bit too high so I have apologized to the referee, the linesman and the fourth official so everything is already solved.”

As for Arsenal, this was a shocking no-show in a game they had to win. Despite having a clear talent advantage over their opponents, no one but Danny Welbeck showed the desire or skill necessary. They are now five points behind Leicester with 11 games left. It’s not an insurmountable deficit, but this was not the sort of setback Arsene Wenger’s team needed headed into a must-win encounter with hated local rival, and currently second place, Tottenham next weekend.

Just another reminder that there’s only one thing that can be relied on this Premier League season — the unexpected.

Leicester City and Tottenham deal with the pressure

While Arsenal’s loss will see them once again labeled as chokers, both Leicester and Tottenham escaped the same fate this weekend.

League leader Leicester was matched up with 18th place Norwich, and despite the chasm between the two clubs’ positions in the league table, found themselves tied with their opponents in the 89th minute. But then, which has happened repeatedly all season long, one of the Foxes managed to be in the right place at the exact right time, as Leonardo Ulloa got on the end of a pass through the box to pound the ball into the net for the game-winner. It was yet another perfect move from manager Claudio Ranieri, who’d sent the Argentine forward on in place of right back Daniel Amartey ten minutes prior.

Things looked even worse for Tottenham on Sunday, as Mauricio Pochettino’s team found themselves down 1-0 at the half to Swansea. They had outplayed their opponents in almost every aspect of the game — except goalkeeping, where Swansea’s Lukasz Fabianski was Hugo Lloris’s equal despite the score — but it took them until the 70th minute to draw even thanks to a goal from Nacer Chadli. Then, seven minutes later, defender Danny Rose smacked in a bouncing winner from distance. It wasn’t the prettiest strike, but it was enough to make sure Spurs kept pace with Leicester at the top of the table.

There’s still plenty of time left in the season, and surely an unexpected twist or five to come, but Leicester and Tottenham both showed a toughness required to win the title. Arsenal needs to do the same — next week’s matchup with Spurs would be a good time to start — otherwise this will be a two- team battle come season’s end.

Goal of the Week

Thanks to a months-long feud with manager Tony Pulis, West Bromwich striker Saido Berahino has barely gotten onto the field this season despite scoring having scored 20 goals last year. Despite his lack of game time, Berahino was the sharpest player on the pitch in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace.

At no point was this was more clear than in the 31st minute, when he put in a gorgeous running volley with his left foot (0:45 mark) — a goal that would end up being the game-winner. How different things may have been for the defensively sturdy yet offensively incompetent West Brom had the two been able to get past their differences earlier in the year.

Save(s) of the Week

Swansea may have lost 2-1 to Tottenham this weekend, but no one could fault the performance Fabianski. The former Arsenal goalkeeper came up big time and time again on Sunday, most notably near the end of the first half (0:55) and just after the interval (1:10). Unfortunately for Fabianski, those saves weren’t enough, but he could at least leave the field with his head held high.

Post’s Premier League Rankings

Tottenham and Leicester City continue to battle it out at the top of the table, things get even worse for Crystal Palace and Norwich’s effort goes to waste again (Last week’s rankings in parentheses).